1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to elongated material dispensing apparatuses, and more particularly to dispensing apparatuses for dental floss, sulcular cord, or the like.
2. Description of Prior Art
In the practice of medicinal and dental rots a wide variety of flexible elongated materials such as dental floss, sulcular cord, tape, drug-containing tapes, and other dispensing strip-like materials are commonly used. Of concern to both the practitioner and the patient are sterile handling procedures, accuracy, and efficiency in the dispensing of such materials. This is especially true in contemporary practice with contagious diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis transmitted by both parenteral and nonparenteral routes.
Heretofore a wide variety of dispensing apparatuses have been proposed and implemented. None, however, are known to applicant in which a measured quantity of floss, sulcular cord, or the like, can be automatically dispensed in a controlled and sanitary manner.
One of the most significant limitations with all prior art dispensing apparatuses is the inability to dispense, a selective amount of dental floss, whether waxed or unwaxed, tape, or strip-like material, in a controlled and sterile fashion. Moreover, the unique properties of floss and sulcular cord make them particularly difficult to dispense. These properties included: 1. A limpness which causes them to misdirect in any direction and which causes them to clump or coil. 2. Their tendency to wrap around rollers (especially waxed floss). The prior art devices are complex, cumbersome and unable to dispense floss and sulcular cord since they provide no means of guiding and controlling the floss and sulcular cord for dispensing. They also have inherent features which contribute to the wrapping and coiling effects. Such limitations have undoubtedly been a reason these prior art dispensers have not received any acceptance for the dispensing of floss and sulcular cord. In fact, for example, it is unknown to provide a dental floss dispenser where controlled lengths of floss can be accurately, sterilely, and selectively dispensed.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of this invention to provide an improved dispensing apparatus for dispensing dental floss, or the like, for controlled, sterile, and selective dispensation, regardless of the amount of material remaining on the spool being dispensed, or whether the material is waxed or unwaxed, or otherwise treated.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.